Chase United Gateway (formerly TravelBank) Credit Card: 40,000-Point Welcome Bonus; No Annual Fee

This no-annual-fee card has an updated welcome bonus of up to 40,000 points: earn 30,000 points after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months, plus 10,000 points for adding an authorized user. For a no-annual-fee card, it still has some value with 2x earnings on local transit, dining, gas, and United Airlines purchases made on the official website. Still, it’s usually better to apply for the annual-fee version first and then downgrade to this card in year two.

• Application link

In general, though, I’d still recommend applying first for the higher-bonus United Airlines Explorer, then downgrading to the Gateway in the second year to avoid the annual fee.

Click to see the extra 10,000-point bonus for adding an authorized user.

Chase United Gateway Credit Card

Benefits

• 25% back on inflight purchases: Get 25% back as a statement credit when you buy snacks or meals on United Airlines flights.
• Easy to use: If you fly United Airlines, this rebate is basically close to cash value. Since it directly offsets airfare purchases, you also don’t have to worry about the common problem of not finding award availability. It’s fairly beginner-friendly.
• Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver: Decline the rental company's collision insurance and charge the entire rental cost to your Card. Coverage is provided for theft and collision damage for most cars in the U.S. and abroad. In the U.S., coverage is secondary to your personal insurance.
• No Foreign Transaction Fee (FTF): Most cards with no foreign transaction fee have an annual fee, so having no annual fee on this card is a nice feature. See also: What is a Foreign Transaction Fee (FTF)?

Drawbacks

• The rebate can only be used for airfare purchased on the United Airlines official website.
• No free checked bag or priority boarding benefits.

Using United Airlines Miles

United Airlines’ biggest strength is its broad international route network, which makes its miles easier to use. United is one of the founding members of Star Alliance, the largest airline alliance, with 25 member airlines. United also has many non-alliance partners, making MileagePlus one of the most versatile currencies for award tickets. To emphasize this point: United Airlines miles can be used not only for flights operated by United itself, but also for flights operated by Star Alliance partners and other partners, so they are very broadly useful. You can redeem them for domestic U.S. flights, flights between the U.S. and China, Europe, or the Americas, and even flights from China to Japan or Europe.

• United Airlines (UA) Loyalty Program and Miles Guide

My Take

For people who fly United Airlines, this is a pretty decent no-annual-fee card. A return of roughly 1.5%-2% plus rental car insurance is not bad. But if you want more upside from points, you should consider something like the Chase Freedom Unlimited, which earns 1.5x points on all purchases. Those points can be redeemed for cash, and in some cases can be used for even higher value.

Product changing among Chase United co-branded cards: Currently, the no-annual-fee United MileagePlus credit card, the $95 annual fee United Explorer, and the $450 annual fee United Club credit card can be product changed among one another. If this card joins that family and can also be changed to and from those cards, it would be a bit better than the also-no-annual-fee United Plus. After all, that card earns 0.5 United Airlines miles per dollar, while this one gives 1.5%-2% back. Once it’s available, I’ll also try product changing my no-annual-fee version into this card. For more, see: Guide to Credit Card Product Changes

Hidden perks of the United card family: We previously listed some hidden benefits of the United Explorer credit card, and according to quite a bit of data, the no-annual-fee United MileagePlus credit card also appears to have some of these perks. Examples include the 25% MPX bonus, extra miles through the United Airlines shopping portal, and even access to XN fare class after downgrading. Since this card is also a Chase United Airlines co-branded credit card, could it have similar benefits too? We’ll have to wait for someone to test it.

How to Apply

• I recommend applying once you have at least 6 months of credit history. After getting started with Chase, this card is usually easy to get approved for.
• Because this is an airline co-branded card, I recommend registering for a United Airlines frequent flyer account in advance and entering your number on the application. Otherwise, a new one may be generated for you, which can be annoying.

Chase Credit Card Application Guide

• Chase application status check link (login required). Or call: 888-338-2586
• The 5/24 rule: if you have opened more than 5 new cards in the past 2 years (including cards from other banks), you will not be approved for a new Chase card
• You can be approved for at most two Chase credit cards within every 30 days
• If you have received the welcome bonus on this card within the past 24 months (48 months for the Sapphire family), your application will be automatically denied
• You can call the reconsideration line (800-453-9719) to expedite card approval or request a review of a denied application.
• Having a Chase Checking account can help with getting approved for a credit card
• More on applying for Chase credit cards

Application Link: